


Intellectually Inadequate

by ArtsyFartsyBro



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Reader Insert, True gender neutral reader, no betas we die like men, tired of all the ‘gender neutral’ fics being explicitly dfab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 05:52:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15503712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtsyFartsyBro/pseuds/ArtsyFartsyBro
Summary: “Look, man, I’m not smart”





	Intellectually Inadequate

“Look, man, I’m just not very smart” you sigh, exasperated. “I don't get these big theoretical applied math problems or whatever. I know like six things and none of them are math” you push the papers across the table toward Ford who looks surprised. “I don't even remember how to do long division with more than one number.” You may have had a snappy tone with him and you knew it but your pride hurt and at this moment, you didn't really want to apologize yet. You wouldn't mean it. Ford had been doing this all week now, passing you equations and creating some applied mathematics problems to pass the time. There was only so many times you could be told “it’s honestly not that difficult” when you failed to solve them before your patience was run thin. When Ford’s dumbfounded expression remains and he still has said nothing, you stand and shake your head. “I’m going for a walk.” You declare lower now, less agitated, leaving the kitchen. 

Its autumn out and the leaves are just now littering the ground at a slight breeze, the soft rustle as they make contact with the others would be appreciated if it weren’t for you already being irritable. Every crunch your booted foot made through the leaves was more and more overstimulating and eventually, you had to just stop and cover your ears firmly with your hands as you squatted. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath as you tried to focus on the pressure of your hands and not replaying everything you'd just said over and over, creating new scenarios where you had been reasonable or where you'd been so much cooler and now you need a distraction. As you stand and remove your hands from your head, you actively stomp through the leaves, the sounds less overbearing now that you had a moment despite it not bringing any real relief. Eventually, you find yourself back at the house and you slump Into the old cushion of the couch that sits on the porch. The fabric feels rough against your fingers and you fold your arms over your chest, trying to switch your focus away from where your body connected with something— away from any over stimulating experience. It's all too much and yet it feels like nothing at the same time. Terrible feeling. Awful Really. You close your eyes and lean your head back against the old wood of the house, feeling the rough texture against your head and you take a long breath. You were still mad. But now more with yourself than anything. You could be smarter if you had just tried. At Least that's what part of you thinks. Another part immediately responds to the previous with assurance that you did your best. The negative part overwhelms the realistic. Should have tried harder and focused only on school. Maybe then you'd be smart enough to even understand the exquasions. But no you wouldn't even then because you're not smart. Your lip curls briefly, a muscle twitch really, in disgust with yourself, angry at you for being mean to you but also agreeing.

In your frustration, you hadn’t heard the door open and close. You felt someone sit beside you and heard them clear their throat before you had realized you didn't hear the leaves anymore. And then all the sound returned like you had stepped out of a sound proof box and everything was loud again. You leant forward again and opened your eyes to look at your new companion, a hard expression on your face. You looked unforgiving. Ford sat beside you, a serious look on his face as usual but the tilt if his head showed concern even to the smallest degree.

“I thought about this week,” he says and pauses, giving you a moment to stop him if you wanted. When you made no move to leave or speak, he continues, voice low as he spoke slowly, working on calculating exactly how to express himself. “I have come to the conclusion that some of the things I have said could be viewed as me thinking less of you and I wanted to apologize if my actions and choices have led to your feeling intellectually inadequate.” It was actually nice to hear he had taken a moment to see it from your perspective. You smiled a little before looking down at your hands, saying nothing. “I am sorry. Really.” He finishes gently and moves to pat a hand on your knee briefly. You take a long breath, letting it out as you pick at the nails of your non dominant hand. Your thoughts still ran haphazardly through your mind but they weren’t so loud now. You nodded and tried to make your mouth move to form your thanks but you could make no movement of the muscles nor could you muster a grunt. Instead you looked to Ford and nodded. It's all you could do. Luckily, he was intellectually adequate enough to understand and he returned the nod.


End file.
